So we watched a couple of movies. They were all pretty good actually!

1. War Horse

It’s one of those animal-owner love stories, but what’s different was that is was set in before and during the era of 1st world war. Albert and his family are farmers, but one day his drunken dad irrationally decided to buy a young racehorse during an auction. Actually racehorses aren’t useful in farming, but after some perseverance and patience, Albert trained Joey into a horse that could plough the land and be of some use. Unfortunately war was on them and his dad had to sell Joey to the military and they were separated. Throughout the rest of the movie, the main actor is actually Joey as we sees his adventures from the battlefield, out of it and back into it again.

I especially liked a scene where both England and Germany were on ceasefire and Joey was stuck in the middle of the war zone cause of some barbed wire. Guess who saved the horse? Watch to find out XD

2. The King’s Speech

Really good! It’s a slow paced movie but good acting from Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter) and Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean). And it made me realise that a King’s speech is REALLY important! Esp during wartime.

3. Serendipity

I would have enjoyed it a few years back, but not at this age and what I have learned based on Christian relationship books and personal experience.

It talks about 2 people, who incidentally met and spent half a day together. At the end of the day, they decided to NOT exchange each other’s numbers, but rather write it down somewhere else and see if they still manage to find each other’s numbers through luck/ fate. The girl wrote her number down in a book (Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera) and sold it to a 2nd hand bookstore. The guy wrote his on a 20-dollar note.

Many many years later, they are both engaged to different people. But before they marry, they (simultaneously??!) decide to look for each other. And guess what? They find each other, dump their partners and get together.

Isn’t that adultery?

Ok la, maybe it’s not that serious, but seriously? It’s SO irresponsible and it’s based on solely the fact that they had an amazing afternoon together. Their partners are innocently dumped just because they think that they found their soulmates. This movie is so misleading argghhh

4. Source Code

It seems that people are still trying to earn money off the Inception concept. It’s pretty much similar, in that it suggests that there are alternate universes and you can get stuck there for the rest of your lives etc.

The guy is actually dead but they are using the last 8 minutes of his memory (or something like that, I didn’t really get the concept) to find out the cause of a train bombing so that the authorities can reprimand the bomber and put an end to the terrorism. So the guy basically “dreams” of the scene in the train and goes around rummaging through people’s backpacks and punching people to see if he gets the bomber. And the bomb will not explode after the 8 minutes.

Stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan. I LOVED Vera Varmiga from Up in the Air (which is, about adultery too >.<) and she’s was a great actress in this movie as well.

That’s all folks! Gotta go back to my underproductive studying.

But then I realised that throughout the past year, I have been relying on God more than ever. And I read more biblical books and prayed more.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  ~James 1:2-4

Of course it’s hard to be happy in hard times. But finally I found contentment in hardship because I figured that if God were to put me through so many trials, He must love me very much. God went through so much trouble of moulding me into Christlikeness. He wanted me to mature, to have faith in him, and PERSEVERE.

Patience. That’s a hard lesson to learn. Be patient with God. Be patient with myself. Be patient, because in time, God’s promise will be fulfilled.

I still struggle with sin everyday, but at least now I struggle with a purpose. I know that with each trial that I triumph over, I will be closer to God.

This praise and worship song tells us that God is like the sun among the clouds, ever present even in the rain. It reminds me that God is there all along the way. Even in moments where sadness and loneliness blinds our eyes to God’s love.

雲上太陽， 它總不改變，
雖然小雨灑在臉上，
雲上太陽， 它總不改變，
哈！ 它不改變。

In a world where sensuality is popularised and made commonplace, where money is all that matters and success is determined by the number of degrees you hold, I thank God for letting me come to know Him. I thank Him for loving me and I thank Him for helping me stand strong in this lost world.

He told me to guard my heart because it is the wellspring of life. He told me how terrible it was to sin, because it signified that I would be separated from God. He told me to love others just as He loved me.

Some people may think it’s scary, to give up your lives for God. Why are we Christians believing in a God that we cannot see? Aren’t we supposed to live our lives for ourselves? To seek true happiness? To serve mankind?

But I cannot believe that we were just created through a random event in the universe. I cannot believe that our Creator did not make heaven and earth simply out of love. How can we possibly live a live to fulfill our self-centred purposes when we wouldn’t even exist without Him?

I recall my life after I prayed to God that I put my future in His hands. He then brought me to HKU to study medicine and my life took a major turn. My life of happiness in ignorance turned into a life of suffering in Christ. Not like major suffering and all, but I realised that being a Christian meant struggling against wordly rules and principles. If I had never made it to HKU, away from home, I would have probably not taken my faith seriously. I would not become who I am today.

So when I look back, I see God’s grace in everything. Every single event is pre-planned, is part of the Jesus Christ boot camp that I signed up for years ago. I fell, I cried, I prayed and I got up.

I don’t know what made me write this post today. I guess this has been in my mind for quite a long time. I just didn’t know how to put it in words.

Thank you, Lord, for giving me happiness even in suffering.

our first ever M15 class photo.

Spot me!

But yeah it really does! And time goes by faster and faster as I grow older. Exponentially.

My secondary school PJ (Pendidikan Jasmani/PE) Tee. Currently hanging on the closet in my dorm to remind me of the lameness and carefree spirit back in the old days (GOSH I’m so old.) It’s been what, 5 years since secondary school? I don’t feel that old actually, just that the once-vivid memories of high school has now faded to almost nothingness. The first thing I recall is the hot and humid weather in class, and how uncomfortable it was to move in our pinafore. Nothing more. And oh I used to have really dark and bushy eyebrows. VERY bushy. But I digress.

Well at least I still keep in touch with a few of them, particularly the ones who sit near or next to me in class (eg people around my height HAHA). 

And then I worked in Genting for 4 months. It was my first time staying away from home (I only came back once a month). It was a good working experience and it was definitely a taste of freedom XD

And then college. It was honestly the best time of my life. My friends were so much fun, and I made some really good friends along the way. We still are today. We would  practically laugh at something everyday until we cried.

And then we graduated. I worked at a kindergarten while applying for uni. 

The kid said she was drawing a portrait of me. hmmmmm

It was pretty challenging working with children since I was the youngest and pampered one in the family. But it was very insightful. You can’t believe how much one can learn from kids. 

And then… Uni. 

the rest is history.

See? Fast right? THAT’s how my adolescence ended and now I’m beginning my journey into adulthood.

Resolutions?

Only one this year. To live my life according to the Bible.

Because I know this year will not be an easy year. CRAZY amount of study material for Year 2 and I can’t believe my exam is just around 4 months plus away. @.@

So I pray that God will give me the strength to stay strong in His words, stay strong in this world that does not know/does not accept Him and also be a good testimony to others.

Amen.

Separation used to hurt, it still does, but much much less. It’s just a different world, HK and Malaysia. I wonder if I’ll ever get used to the culture in HK but what’s definite at the moment is I don’t want to change. I love my home country, the people, my friends, family, food… the list goes on.

Most importantly it’s because where home is.

I’ll miss church camp. Which was AWESOME (check my last post)

I’ll miss my family.

I’ll miss friends who have been with me through life, its tribulations and crazy fun =)

It’s something that I can always come back to, but each and everytime I do, the feeling changes little by little.

It’s not a bad thing tho.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. ~Ecclesiastes 3:1

Why is it that the more I read, the more I realise that the Bible has answers to almost everything =)

Selamat tinggal Malaysia, jumpa lagi untuk CNY! XD (Bye Malaysia, see you again for CNY)

We live on Earth, not on Facebook.

It’s really giving me the shivers how much of our time we are giving up for something that doesn’t exist in reality.

Just because it would be too attention seeking of me to post pics of my injuries on facebook and yet I wanted to keep some evidence so that I would be reminded on this 20 years later, it’s here on my blog. Heh.

This happened on the 2nd night of church camp at Outbag Broga Camp,Negeri Sembilan (26-29th Dec). But all very minor la. But it was slightly debilitating when you add up the muscle aches due to sudden strenuous exercise. You know la us medic students only exercise our eyes and brain most of the time. (By the way I’m glad I got my “la” back this winter break! In true Malaysian spirit yay)

The irony is that these injuries were not sustained from the outdoor activities and hiking up Broga Hill (a popular hiking spot for amateurs) but simply because I tripped somewhere in the campsite. twice. in the dark. I was smart enough not to bring a torchlight around. But thank God I was still able to hike and join in all the outdoor activities like the rest!

It was supposedly a youth camp, but it made me realise that I am approaching the end of the “youth” spectrum. When I saw the teenage boys from church going through the obstacle course effortlessly as a monkey while the younger ones trying to intentionally overturn the kayak boat just so that they could get wet. Lao liao laaaa

I was the medical personnel along with another brother from church who was doing Med Yr 4 in University Malaya, Ryan. So we had to stand the friendly taunts from the kids who would call us “医生” (yi sheng=doctor) ceaselessly. Some of the younger girls were so shy that they wouldn’t let Ryan handle their wounds. Kind of funny but understandable XD

Outdoor activities aside, we had in-house speakers (meaning from our church) to talk about God’s calling in our lives, repentance and what we should know about Christian dating.

As you would have figured out from the title, I was healed. God called me to the church camp. The timing was right, I was interested in the outdoor activities and I felt so badly that I NEEDED God. I needed to be reminded of His holiness and His righteousness and His promise of everlasting life in heaven.

It was because I was broken. and tired. From struggling day by day with rules of men versus rules of God. It never used to feel like that in the days when I was still an unbeliever. But now each day is a constant struggle, because each day we are faced with conforming to the society. peer pressure. deep rooted traditions of generations and generations of families.

But I’m glad I know God and His rules NEVER change. Who cares what the world thinks? We do not have to answer to men, but there will be a day when we have to answer before God. And I seriously don’t want to look bad >.<

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

~Colossians 3:2-3

Each time I struggle against the world, each time I grow in Christ-likeness.

Fighting for Christ!!! <3

It was actually multiple ’cause we just couldn’t finish using the dough no matter how many times we baked. It kind of reminds me of the 5 bread and 2 fish story in the bible hehe. The recipe was for 16 cookies, but we doubled it cause we were splitting among the three of us. When we were moulding the cookies, we realised it was near impossible to make a hole in the centre for the filling. Hence no more sandwich cookie and it was just going to be a normal one with glazed icing sugar on top. In total we were supposed to end up with 16 x 2 x 2 = 64 cookies.

loved the process of sprinkling icing sugar on the cookies. ITS SNOWING!!!

Anyway we baked around 60 cookies yesterday and realised that only 1/4 of the mould was being used up. So churr right. >.<

It tastes really good though! My mom could tell that we put in some ginger powder and it was just GOOD. I hope I don’t start sprouting pimples from eating too much!

Tiffany just left to aus yesterday night. again. Can’t believe time flies so fast since high school. Her youngest sis whom I knew of since kindergarten is going to be Form 1 next year. O.O and I might not see Tiffy within a few years ’cause summer and winter break are opposite for both of us since we are on opposite hemispheres and I’m not coming back during winter break and so is she T___T Can’t believe how life can change so drastically within a few years and maybe the next time I start contemplating on life is after I retire and sit at home playing chess with my cat.

High School --> now: 4 years!!! T___T

But at least we still met up la. How time flies is just SCARY.

On a happier note, I will be going for church camp from 26th-29th Dec!!! Looking forward to it and hoping that it will bring me closer to God =)

And how could I possibly not talk about Jesus since it’s His birthday??! I’m so glad it’s been 5 years since I believed in Christ and as the years has gone by, the trials I faced have been more and more challenging but at the same time it has taught me that true happiness and comfort can only come from God.

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

~ Psalm 73:25-26

Merry Christmas everyone!! =)

Usually my concentration would be interrupted by facebook notifications, whatsapp messages, a new sprouting pimple, or the lookbook.com widget. Geez sometimes I wished I was a little more “ulu” (less high tech) so that nothing would stand between me and my beloved lecture notes.

So far I’ve covered MOST of the important lectures of CNS. Only. Hah. And I was looking through UG notes and found myself staring blankly at it like someone with retrograde amnesia. The trauma was probably CNS/MSS. T______________T

Since I’m so stressed out already, I’d better destress.

With 50/50 by Joseph Gorden Levitt.

CAN U STOP BEING SO CUTE??!!!